that exhibits the interests , traits , and values of a population . An Asian student , for example might find it difficult to tackle assignments that focus on giving arguments or opinions . Despite his strenuous efforts to write an argumentative essay he may still feel that he fails at doing that . A reason for his failure to perform the task could be the cultural setting in which he grew up . Asian people share a reverential attitude towards culture . Therefore , it is not usual for an Asian student to attempt to emulate their predecessors in order to show their respect for knowledge . In Western cultures , by contrast , imitations could be regarded as mere regurgitations of ideas which translate into poor writing . In the English classroom , teachers encourage critical thinking , and urge students to express their opinions frankly . Moreover , individual creativity plays a crucial role in the writing process . When discussing the major differences between cultures , Hyland claims that individualistic cultures are prone to express their preference for creative , critical , and analytical texts whereas collectivist cultures favour the well-established , traditional writing patterns and they do not seek to promote individual creativity . ( 39 )
As a former collectivist society , Romanian society has struggled to encourage a fresh perspective on culture . Acquiring critical and analytical skills was a laborious process . Students who were not accustomed to giving their opinions on various topics needed more support from their teachers . However , judging a text only by the cultural background of the writer may be a sign of flawed and stereotypical thinking . Because students are not mere representatives of a cohesive group . They are , first and foremost , individuals with personal learning styles and preferences . The extent to which a learning style could influence the preference for certain types of texts will be discussed in the next paragraphs .
A plea for creative writing Acknowledging the arduous path a student has to climb in order to deliver good expository texts , we may want to reconsider our views on writing tasks . A good alternative to formal , expository writing is creative writing . One of the main advantages of writing stories and poetry is that all creative texts ‘ speak ’ a universal language . Obviously , stories are reflections of various communities , but at the same time they can share a similar structure and focus on universal themes regardless of their origin . By sharing similarities , stories turn out to be more approachable for students . Learners do not need to adapt to the rigid conventions of the target language , as the ‘ rules ’ are quite similar . Students ’ cultural background is no longer an impediment but an asset or an advantage . Thus , his prior knowledge can contribute to the creative process . On top of that , writing stories or poetry is an enjoyable and engaging way of practising all language skills .
As a teacher , I have noticed that I often tend to favour tasks that involve functional writing and I spend little time on creative writing tasks . However , I am willing to change my ways . Dismissing formal writing tasks for being tedious is obviously not an option but alternating them with creative writing tasks seems like a viable solution . The following paragraph will look at the advantages of teaching creative writing .
The benefits of creative writing Writing stories and poetry can improve learners ’ language skills to a great extent . Additionally , activities that involve creative assignments prove to be an enjoyable experience for students . In the last paragraphs we saw that expository writing tasks
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